On Nov. 15, Arrow Electronics will officially become the largest publicly traded company in Colorado with revenues of around $20 billion and a No. 140 slot on the Fortune 500 list.

That’s huge.

Certainly having 1,000 employees working out near Centennial Airport in its Enterprise Computing Solutions division played a part in the decision to relocate from Long Island, as did the fact that CEO Mike Long once ran the Colorado operation and still lives here.

But after doing the hard-edged business analysis, poring over the spread sheets, sizing up the employee impacts, what it came down to was partnership, according to one key Arrow executive. In other words, did its corporate mission and ambitions line up with the mission and ambitions of the state of Colorado.

Turns out the answer was yes.

“New York is the theater state, the financial services and banking state,” the executive said. “It doesn’t care if it’s the electronics state.”

Arrow is the premier electronics supply company in the world, with 1,200 suppliers, 115,000 customers and a ubiquitous presence in technological wonders like smart phones, cloud computing and green energy gadgets. The headquarters relocation will arguably make Colorado the premier electronics state overnight.

While the state tossed Arrow $11.4 million in tax credits based on job creation, that’s little more than foam on a craft beer. Incentives aren’t why Arrow is relocating. It’s about partnership and legacy, according to the Arrow executive.

Arrow believes beyond the short-term gains of jobs and student internships, it can more importantly, in the long-run, help transform Colorado’s business landscape into a model for the 21st Century.

“..Arrow believes beyond the short-term gains of jobs and student
internships, it can more importantly, in the long-run, help transform
Colorado’s business landscape into a model for the 21st Century….”

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.